Final scoreboards, story's for Sunday, Mahan's Canadian connection...Canadian scores..

PGA Tour

Shell Houston Open

Thursday Mar 29 – Sunday Apr 1, 2012

Redstone GC Tournament Course · Humble, Texas

Canadians.. Graham DeLaet, David Hearn

tee times click here http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/r020/tee-times.html
live scoring click  http://www.pgatour.com/r/leaderboard/

Louis Oosthuizen 67, 66, 66 -17 is the class of the field so far this week, the little South African takes a 2 shot lead over Hunter Mahan 69 67 65 -15 into Sunday's play.

UPDATE ***
Hunter Mahan has just won for the 2nd time this year, this time a 1 shot victory 71, -16 over Carl Pettersson 71 -15 and by 2 over Louis Oosthuizen 75 -14 who lost his lead with a couple of doubles and 2 bogey's on his front nine.

Mahan gives his Canadian connection credit for his fine form and new attitude this year. Sean Foley is his coach (back to back wins for Sean !) and Jim Murphy, the Vancouver based Executive Coach at Inner Excellence who teaches world-class athletes how to have poise under pressure and be the best in the world. Mahan says Murphy has taught him to enjoy the game more, and he is getting better results.  It's easy to let your mind run wild and get down on yourself," Mahan said. "That's what I used to do. I'm trying to pump myself up more and just believe in myself."

Hunter moves all the way up to #4 in the world in the latest rankings, and now becomes one of the favourites at Augusta where he was T10 in 2009 and T8 in 2010.
http://www.officialworldgolfranking.com/rankings/default.sps?region=world

Ernie Els finished at -10 T12 70,69,69,70 missing out on Augusta for the first time since 1993 and although the Masters committee could offer him a special invite like they did for Greg Norman in 2002, Ernie said he would refuse it if they did "To go through all of this, and then get an invite, I wouldn't take it," he said. "They can keep it."

As for the Canucks, David Hearn 71 74 and Graham Delaet with 67,76 both MC which fell at -2


CHAMPIONS Tour
Off until April 13

NATIONWIDE Tour
Off until April 5


LPGA Tour (Major)
Kraft Nabisco Championship
Mission Hills CC, Dinah Shore Championship Course
Rancho Mirage, Calif.,
Canadians Lorie Kane +11 74 73,72,80 T79, Alena Sharp +8,75,73,73,75 T75
live scoring and tee times http://www.lpgascoring.com/public/Leaderboard.aspx

Yani Tseng 68,68,71 -9 has been caught by Swedish star Karen Sjodin 72,67,68 -9 going into the final round of first major of the LPGA season. They are followed by no less than 6 girls from South Korea. I have listed the Canadian scores above.

UPDATE ****
Sun Young Yoo (South Korea) has just beat I.K. Kim in a one-hole playoff for her second career victory and first major championship. After I.K. Kim -9, missed a one-foot par putt on the 18th hole to force a two-player playoff, Yoo hit her approach shot to 20-feet on the first playoff hole and sank the birdie putt to clinch what seemed to be an improbable victory at the season's first major championship.

Yani Tseng needed to eagle 18 to get to 10 under, birdie to get into the playoff at -9 missed her chance after leading going into the final round. . It's the first time since the 2010 Kraft Nabisco that Tseng did not win a tournament where she held or shared the lead going into the final round. "I was totally shocked that I couldn't make that," said Tseng. "But I tried my best again. I finished strong it was a day I really don't want, but I give my 100 percent effort out there."

EUROPEAN Tour
Sicilian Open
Verdura Golf & Spa Resort
29 Mar 2012 - 01 Apr 2012
Sicily, Italy
Canadian.. Andrew Parr T1 71,69,67,71  -10 

UPDATE *** Andrew Parr has just finished with a 71 -10 total, he played well, couldn't buy a putt. He won't improve dramatically on his 848 world ranking but sent me a text to say the top 10 gets him into the lucrative Maybank Malaysian Open at Kuala Lumpur G&CC,Kuala Lumpur.

The winner, his first on the European Tour is Andrew's playing partner, the Dane Thorbjorn Olesen who shot 69 -15 to beat the lanky Englishman Chris Woods 64 -14 by a shot.

Parr won $39,995 cdn for his 6th place (30,000 euros)

live scoring click here
http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2012/tournamentid=2012016/leaderboard/index.html?showLeaderboard=Y


eGolf Professional Tour
River Run Classic
March 28-30
Davidson, NC..
Canadians.. Cam Burke 2nd 62 71,69 -14, Matt Hill T5 67,73 70 -6, Christopher Ross T22, 71,72 72 -1, David Lang MC , Gavin Smith MC, Brad Revell MC, Will Mitchell 71 71 72 -2 T18
Live scoring click here.http://tarheel.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/tarheel12/event/tarheel1211/contest/1/leaderboard.htm
The winner was Ireland's Seamus Power at -16, worth $15,000 but Cam Burke was 2nd at -14 worth $8,000 with Matt Hill T5, $3,466. All Canuck scores listed above.

ASIAN Tour
Panasonic Open
Delhi Golf Club, New Delhi
March 29-01 | $300,000   
Canadians.. Ron Harvey Jr T38 +9 77 69 74,77 Lindsay Renolds  +13 76 70 75,80 Matt Johnston MC
live scoring click here http://www.asiantourlivescoring.html

Here are the Canadian scores after 4 rounds in New Delhi. The winner was Diqvijay Singh at -11.


NGA Pro Golf Tour
Cutter Creek Golf Classic
Cutter Creek, NC
Canadians  Riley Wheeldon T8 -2 68 71 75, David Markle, T11 75 66 74 -1 Eric Ross MC, Marc-Etienne Bussieres T29 +2 74 71 73, Yohann Benson  MC, Sebastian Szirmak  MC,  Louis-Alexandre Pitre  MC
live scoring click here
http://ngahooters.tourgolfscores.com/gscode/public/leaderboards/player/static/player340.html

The winner 71 68 70 -7 was David Skinns of England.

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at www.isr1050.com

 

Sean Foley, Tiger's brilliant golf coach, but so much more.

Before I write this, I am biased about Sean Foley. Ever since the passing of Ben Kern on October 16,2002, Sean has been the golf pro on our Fairways golf show. What started out as a weekly golf tip at 7.25 every Saturday morning for 5 minutes, quickly became an entire segment of the show, because Sean is about much more than how to cure a slice..

Sean's priorities are his family first, leaving this earth a better place for all next and being a golf coach third. If you were a regular listener you'd know what I mean.

His wife Kate, son's Quinn and Kieran are his family and you may remember Kiernan was born on August 26 last year with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, a condition in which an abnormal opening in the diaphragm can lead to parts of the stomach or other abdominal organs moving into the chest cavity which he survived after an operation. "We were told by the doctor that he had never seen a luckier child in 33 years of dealing with children with that condition. "

When it comes to his golf instruction Sean is driven by a passion to help golfers evolve into the best players and people they can be and he currently teaches out of the Core Golf Junior Academy at Orange County National, Winter Garden, and the good news for Canada is he has been entrusted for years, with the development of many of our young players like Jessica Shepley for example.

In brief Sean Foley in the last 2 months has had Hunter Mahan win the Accenture World Match Play, Justin Rose win at Doral and Tiger win at Bay Hill. All 3 have made huge strides forward in their games under his tutelage.

I had no doubt Sean would bring Tiger's game back, given time, we have seen it building all year. 2nd at Abu Dhabi, in the last group at Pebble, 2nd at the Honda, 1st this week. I'm excited about the things that we've been working on,and to see it come together week in and week out, it's getting a little bit better, a little bit better and a little bit better said Tiger yesterday.

Sean improves everyone's game, always has done and the results just happen to be magnified right now.

However, his influence on all his pupils is about being better people. Remember Mahan was gutted after his experience at the Ryder Cup, look at him now.  Look at Tiger's demeanour now. His game and persona are under control. He has his priorities in order. Family first, being a humble, good and decent man next, and the world's best golfer a distant, although passionate third.Were there any histrionics after his 7th win at Bay Hill ? No, not unless you count the one's emanating from the Golf Channel studio.

Sean I know, is talking to Tiger as much about his life and what he is going to do with it, and about raising their children, Quinn, Kiernan, Charlie and Sam, as he is about whether his wrist is cupped at the top or flat. Just like Tiger's late father Earl did before his passing.

Sean has helped Tiger get life back in perspective, has made him a better person and along the way has taken all his shattered golf genius, re-shaped it, made it more reliable, restored his confidence in it, and has now got him back where he belongs, a loving devoted father and back where golf needs him, as the favourite going into Augusta.

click here for latest world golf ranking, Tiger now 6th...
http://www.officialworldgolfranking.com/rankings/default.sps?region=world&PageCount=1


Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at www.isr1050.com





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Final Sunday scoreboards, Canadian scores

There are Canadians playing in Florida, California, Louisiana, Mississippi and North Carolina this week and all of their scores are available here as well of course as the complete tournament story.

PGA Tour

Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard

Bay Hill Club & Lodge · Orlando, Florida

Canadians : Mike Weir 77,72 MC

Tiger Woods has won his 7th Bay Hill Championship after a -2 70, -13 total. He was 5 ahead of Graeme McDowell who started his day with a double bogey 6 to give Woods an immediate 3 shot lead, and id he needed it a little comfort zone. Although GMac made a couple of his trademark long putts, he never really challenged Tiger, who finally put 4 good rounds together. Coach Sean Foley has him driving the ball better than ever (he led this week in total driving), his iron play is superb and this week he made most everything under 10 feet. He is now 6th in the new world rankings.

The rest of the field either stood still, didn't do enough or went backwards on a windy day on Arnie's tough course with the pins tucked. GMac 74 -8 was 2nd and Ian Poulter 74 -6 was third.  Sadly Ernie Els at 75 -5 T4 when 3rd would have put him in the top50 and Augusta. Now he is up to #58

Only 2 players shot in the 60's, Brian Harman and JB Holmes both with 68's.

Let the Masters speculation begin !

Sunday tee times click http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/r009/tee-times.html
final scoring click here http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r009/

EUROPEAN Tour

Trophee Hassan II

Golf du Palais Royal

Agadir, Morocco

live scoring click here http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2012/tournamentid=2012014/leaderboard/index.html?

While Welshman Jamie Donaldson fired 6 birdies and 3 EAGLES on his way to an astonishing 61, which included a back nine of 28, to get to -13 and a T3, it was Northern Ireland's Micheal Hoey who pulled away from the field with a final round -7 65 -17 total 3 ahead of Damien McGrane 70 -14. Matteo Manassero needing a win to climb into the top 50 and a trip to Augusta shot E 72 to finish on -12 T6, which will open the door for Ernie Els to jump back into the top 50 with a top 3 finish later today at Bay Hill.



LPGA Tour

Kia Classic

La Costa Resort, Legends Course

La Costa California

Canadians : Alena Sharp 74 76 MC, Stephanie SherlockT30 69 77,74,72 +4, Maude-Aimee Leblanc 75 75 MC, Rebecca Lee Bentham 81 77 MC, Lorie Kane 7 76 MC.

Yani Tseng, closed with -2 70 -14 total to win by 6 shots over Sun Young Yoo 71 -8. It is her third win of the year already.
Tseng won the LPGA Founders Cup last week and remember she won 12 times last year with 2 majors and again as I keep saying is arguably the best golfer in the world, men included and she is just 23

tee times click herehttp://www.lpgascoring.com/public/Pairings.aspx?TournamentID=27858
live scoreboard clickhttp://ca.sports.yahoo.com/golf/lpga/leaderboard/2012/404

NATIONWIDE Tour

Chitimacha Louisiana Open

Le Triomphe CC · Broussard, Louisiana

Canadians : Adam Hadwin T18 69,63,68,73 -11, Stuart Anderson MC, Brad Fritsch T5 70 68,69,62 -15, Matt McQuillan T64,67,69,73,76 +1, Ryan Yip MC, Richard Scott T36 69,68,6970 -8

Casey Wittenburg 66,66 63,65 -24 won by 8 shots, but what a finish by Brad Fritsch -9 62 to finish T5 at -15.

final scoring click here http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/h036/

CHAMPIONS Tour
Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic
Fallen Oak, Biloxi, Mississippi                 
Canadians : Rod Spittle E thru 13, Jim Rutledge E thru 9

Freddie Couples -3 69 -14 made a 15 footer on the final green to beat hard charging Micheal Allen -6 66 -13 by a shot.. Canuck Jim Rutledge finished T37, 70 71 76 +1 . Rod Spittle T68 after 73 73 76 +6

for live scoring click here http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/s011/index.html

eGOLF TOUR

The Irish Creek Classic,

The Club at Irish Creek in Kannapolis, NC 

Cabarrus Country Club in Concord, NC.

Canadians : Cam Burke 64,74,73,71 -3 T46, Matt Hill T42 70,68,71,72 -4, Derek Gillespie T27 69,68,70.71 -7, Christopher Ross MC, Brad Revell MC, David Markle MC, Micheal Gonko MC, Zack Schnurr MC

Nice to see Derek Gillespie playing so well, finally back after the terrible car crash in the Phoenix area in late April last year that was the the result of driver fatigue. Gillespie, the passenger was left with a broken right femur, five broken ribs on his left side and a collapsed lung. He finished T27 68 68 70 71 -7. Matt Hill T42 70 68 71 72 -4 and Cam Burke T46 64 73 73 71 -3.

The winner at -18 72 64 66 65 was American David May who won $28,000.
Final results click here http://tarheel.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/tarheel12/event/tarheel1210/contest/1/leaderboard.htm

latest world rankings click here
http://www.officialworldgolfranking.com/rankings/default.sps?region=world&PageCount=1

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Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at www.isr1050.com

WEIR the only Canuck at Arnies Bay Hill

round one tee time click  http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/r009/tee-times.html

While Arnie has not attracted Luke, Rory Martin or Lee, a blow for sure, he has Tiger and Phil and as long as you have Tiger in the USA you are golden..

One Canuck, our steadily improving Mike Weir back from Spain, who will be a sub topic at this the 5th toughest track on the PGA tour

Scotland's Martin Laird is the defending champ

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at www.isr1050.com

New Q school format to start in 2013 has more questions than answers..

pgatour.com   Significant changes to the structure of the qualifying system for the PGA TOUR, as well as a new start time to the season, were the two major announcements made Tuesday by PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem.
With approval by the Policy Board, the Nationwide Tour will now become the primary path to earning membership on the PGA TOUR. Meanwhile, the start of the TOUR season will begin after the final FedExCup event, the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola, with events in the fall awarding FedExCup points for the new season.
All changes will go into effect beginning in October 2013. The current 2012 season will not be impacted.

PRESS RELEASE: Here's the official news release outlining the major changes. Read

"Anytime you make a change, human nature is to ask: Why are we changing? If it ain't broke, don't fix it," Finchem said during a 45-minute news conference in the media center at this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. "There's another way to look at things, that when things are going pretty well, that's the time to get better. That's the philosophy we've embraced."

With these changes, all 50 PGA TOUR membership cards will now be awarded through the Nationwide Tour, with the three final tournaments on the Nationwide Tour consisting of fields involving PGA TOUR and Nationwide Tour players to determine who earns those 50 cards. The annual Qualifying Tournament will now become a pathway exclusively to the Nationwide Tour.

The fields for the three final Nationwide Tour events will include the top 75 players on the Nationwide Tour's money list, the players ranked 126-200 on the PGA TOUR's FedExCup points list and non-members who meet certain eligibility standards. Finchem said the events will be "positioned on an off-week on the PGA TOUR so that we can command good television exposure and we can bring the atmosphere and the drama of that competition to the fans

For me there are many questions which I will explore with you as we digest all this information which was first presented to the players back at Torrey Pines, but the main problem I have is as follows.

Golf badly needs an off season, all the top guys are already under pressure from everyone of the 40 odd events in the PGA calendar not to mention all the big events world wide, just look at Australia for example last year with the Presidents Cup and don't forget the Ryder Cup.. Wrap up the PGA tour year in September, let the top guys go abroad to the European Tour finale, more Americans like Dustin Johnson, and Hunter Mahan this year have become better players honing their skills and experiences around the world and more Americans need to, then get the PR machine fired up for a starting date in February that has a chance of attracting a first class field, and that may just be the week before the Accenture WGC Match Play when the top players are coming to the States to start their WGC run in Phoenix and Florida, not Hawaii in January.

Next with the new format, if you finish at 126 by 2 cents on the PGA tour, then play poorly in the 3 tournament playoff on the Nationwide tour and miss out on the top 50, you are doomed to the Nationwide for a complete year before you can go through the process again to get back on the big tour. That is a tough pill to swallow..

Next what about all the fantastic rags to riches and riches to rags stories that we revel in every year over those 6 rounds in Florida in December. Hundreds of stories both good and bad that are simply gripping TV and part of the PGA Tour..

Next what about all our Canadian Tour players, Canucks and others who could hit a home run at Q School but now must win our Canadian Open or simply go to Q school to qualify for the Nationwide Tour..

I have more questions, NOT the least of which is who will replace Nationwide as the title sponsor when their deal runs out this year ??  RBC ?? is the whisper I am hearing although the loss of Jim Little to Shaw Communications may leave the bank short of sports guys with Jim's vision...


Further, The PGA Tour made significant changes to the schedule to introduce the Fed Ex Cup with the 3 playoffs culminating in the Tour Championship in late September, so the season technically came to an end then. Yes the Fall Series is still important to the guys trying to get into the top 125, but in the main they wanted the big show to end before the NFL took over Sunday's. Now they are going to start the 2013 right in the heart of NFL Sunday's without any stars, not good for the sponsors, or ratings although Finchem says the Fall series sponsors will be happy to be part of the regular PGA tour season. Really ?? with nothing at stake as there was at the Justin Timberlake last year when Luke had to win to beat Webb for the money title ?

Now the Tour Championship will end 2012, and 2013 will start 2 weeks later. Who will care, what will happen to the Hawaii Series in January that has been diminishing drastically in top player attendance already. This will have no affect on the world's best players who are all out in the Far East including China for the WGC, then on to Dubai for the culmination of the Race to Dubai in December.


As a result the top guys have all worked out their 25 events or less and as a result the bread and butter events like the Canadian Open are lucky to get a Rory or Tiger or Phil or Lee unless the sponsor is paying them a royal ransom, as RBC does with Luke, Ernie, Freddie etal.. So while the new system may be a fairer representation of the 150 finalists ( top 75 Nationwide, 126-200 PGA tour) it will be met with the same bewilderment and disinterest that has met the Fed Ex Cup.

Sorry about Hawaii, the Tournament of Champions had more publicity for those who missed it than those who came this year maybe Mark Rolfing's idea of an All Star Game would work, the Sony the week after is lucky to get 2 of the top 10, Pebble is more about Bill Murray although Phil saved it with his win this year, and Phoenix gets all it's pub for the drunks at 16, not so much the stellar field.

The new system is just another way of re-arranging the deck chairs, I'd rather the PGA tour wrapped up in September, had it's next focus on one week at Q school with all it's drama in December, then started up in February for the next season.

What about college phenoms, how do they qualify..

There are more questions than answers for me with the new system..

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at www.isr1050.com

"Monday, Monday..can't trust that day.."

As the guys play out the Tavistock Cup in what has been an ideal Florida spring, (my colleague of many years Alan Ashby said during the Jays win over the Phillies yesterday, " I can't remember a spring training with more perfect weather than we have had this year, low 80's every day, clear blue skies..") I have a few thoughts on a pretty dramatic Sunday in golf.

* official world ranking click http://www.officialworldgolfranking.com/rankings/default.sps?region=world

* Ernie broke our hearts again yesterday, 2 ahead at -14 with a 4 footer for birdie on 16, missed, wild tee shot to the right on the par 3 17th resulting in bogey, then another 4 footer for par at 18 which missed the cup completely "pulled it a little".

Bogey bogey finish to miss out on the 6 man playoff by a shot, his chance to make it to the Masters on his own merit likely gone although he is playing at Arnie's then at the Shell in Texas to try to get that win which will put him in the top 50, he is 62 right now, he hasn't missed since 1994. I think it is likely he will receive a special invite from the Masters Committee if he doesn't win his way in

* By the way don't blame Steve Sands for the awkward interview he was asked to do minutes after Ernie had blown the tourney and was obviously in shock.Take it from me, it is the producers who demand the interview and they are looking for shock reaction and they got it. It sickened me and millions of others to treat such a classy gentleman like that, but didn't surprise me.

* Congrats to Luke who is back at #1 on a great 7 iron in the playoff to within 6 feet for the birdie and the win.

* tough luck for the Goose who was in the lead after 3 rounds with a bad back. He could barely swing yesterday, limped in with a 75 well down the field when a top 5 would have got him to Augusta. He is hoping the needles he will get in his bulging discs on Wednesday will do the trick as they did for Freddie and Vijay..

* Yani Tseng continues to be the best player on the planet. The world #1 shot 4-under 68, beating Na Yeon Choi and Ai Miyazato of Japan for her 2nd win of this young season at the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup

* It's been almost 2 years since Lorne Roberts (68) won on the Champions tour, so it was nice to see him win the Toshiba yesterday, by 2 shots at -8. Tom Kite, Bernhard Langer and Calc were all at -6. Rod Spittle 75 T29 and Jim Rutledge 71 T55 were well back.

* Tiger is playing with Justin Rose as part of the Albany Club in the Tavistock and is just fine if you were asking. There are 4 clubs in this little 2 day charity raiser being played at Lake Nona G&CC in Florida, and they are all unreal, fabulously expensive.. Here are links to them all.

The Albany Club http://www.albanybahamas.com/
Lake Nona Golf & Country Club http://www.lakenona.com/home/
The Queenwood GC  http://www.queenwood.co.uk/
The Isleworth GC  http://isleworth.com/

* Charlie Wi took a 13 yesterday at the Transitions, including three shots careening off of trees onto the driving range.

* Rory and Luke will not play now until the Masters.

* Ryo Ishikawa has thought it over and has decided to take special temporary membership on the PGA Tour, which allows him to accept as many sponsor exemptions as he wants for the rest of the 2012 season.
The 20-year-old was runner-up in the Puerto Rico Open two weeks ago. In six events this year, he has earned $582,471, more than enough to be a special temporary member. Non-members can play no more than 12 times on the PGA Tour.
The next goal for Ishikawa is to make as much as the player who ends the year at No. 125 on the money list. That would allow him to become a full member next year. He has invites to play at Arnie's and the Masters..

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at www.isr1050.com

Much to play for on Sunday, scoreboards, stories and how the Canucks are doing

PGA TOUR: TRANSITIONS CHAMPIONSHIP
COURSE: Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club, Copperhead Course (7,340 yards, par 71).

CANADIANS: Graham DeLaet was playing in his third straight event and is coming off his first top-10 result of the season; Stephen Ames was playing his fourth straight event having missed the cut in the last two; David Hearn was back after taking last week off. Sadly all 3 missed the cut.

CUT

132

Stephen Ames

73

70

143

CUT

117

Graham DeLaet

77

69

146

CUT

119

David Hearn

72

72

144

Retief Goosen birdied 15, 16 and 17 on Saturday for a -6 65 -11 to tie with Jim Furyk -5 66, -11 a shot ahead of Korean rookie Sang-Moon Bae -3 68 and Jason Dufner E 71. Goosen is playing with a bad back that has forced him to WD from Bay Hill next week for one of those protein filled blood injections into the ailing discs  in Virginia on Wednesday. He is currently #52, so a good finish today can get him into Augusta.
Paddy Harrington who set the course record with 61 on Thursday, has had a 73,72 since to sit at -7, four shots behind.
Luke Donald 70, -8 will be #1 if he wins and Ernie Els who had 3 late birdies of his own for 68 -8 needs a win to get into the top 50 and into the Masters.

for a live scoreboard click here  http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r475/

EUROPEAN TOUR: ANDALUCIA OPEN

COURSE: Aloha Golf Club (6,881 yards, par 72).
CANADIANS: Mike Weir made his 2012 European debut, taking advantage of Tour membership awarded to him for winning the 2003 Masters. He returns to a course that saw him win the 2000 WGC event. Weirsy shot 68,73,72,73 -2 T52 as play continues in round 4.

Here's the leaders with 6 holes to play, the winner will come from here.

	↑+6	1	QUESNE, Julien	-16	16	-7	68	72	67	-	207
					↑+2	T2	OTTO, Hennie	-14	14	-4	67	71	68	-	206
					-	T2	MANASSERO, Matteo	-14	14	-3	64	73	68	-	205
					↓-1	T2	DE LA RIVA, Eduardo	-14	13	-2	67	69	68	-	204

Miguel Angel Jiménez has hopes of becoming The European Tour's oldest-ever winner, is at -11 playing 15.Jimenez turned 48 in January, and the Ryder Cup star would be 39 days older than record holder Des Smyth if he grabs his 19th European Tour title .

live scoring click here http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2012/tournamentid=2012012/leaderboard/index.html?showLeaderboard=Y

LPGA TOUR: LPGA FOUNDERS CUP
COURSE: JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa, Wildfire Golf Club (6,613 yards, par 72).

CANADIANS: Lorie Kane 72 71,75 +2 218, Maude-Aimee Leblanc 72 72 74 +2 218, Rebecca Lee-Bentham 71 70 71 -4 212, Alena Sharp 70 78 +4 MC . Leblanc and Sharp are making their season debuts while Kane and Lee-Bentham are playing their first LPGA event since the Tour's Australasian swing. ... Stephanie Sherlock and Samantha Richdale were alternatives.

Yani Tseng 67, 202 and Ai Miyazato 66 202 hold a one-stroke lead after 3 rounds of play at the 2012 RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup. Na Yeon Choi 67, 203 is a shot back in Phoenix.
for live scoring click here http://www.lpgascoring.com/public/Leaderboard.aspx?TournamentID=27857

CHAMPIONS TOUR: TOSHIBA CLASSIC
COURSE: Newport Beach Country Club (6,584 yards, par 71).
CANADIANS: Jim Rutledge 74 74 +6  148 and Rod Spittle 70,68 -4 138

There is a real tightly packed leaderboard with Mark Calcavecchia in the lead 67 67 134 and then Fred Couples 67 69 136 and Lorne Roberts 66 70 134 just 2 shots back. There are 12 players within 4 shots including Langer, Price and our own Rod Spittle.

live scoreboard click here http://www.pgatour.com/s/leaderboard/

eGOLF PROFESSIONAL TOUR: Pine Needles Classic
COURSE: Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club and Seven Lakes Country Club, North Carolina

CANADIANS: Cam Burke 76 72 71 78 +2 53rd, Greg Doherty MC, Matt Hill MC, Brad Revell MC,David Markle MC, Zach Schnurr MC, Richard Lee 69 69 72 70 T27

live scoreboard click http://tarheel.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/tarheel12/event/tarheel129/contest/1/leaderboard.htm

On a day when the lead in the eGolf Tour’s Pine Needles Classic changed hands roughly 10 times, Kevin Foley’s putt on the 72nd green left little doubt as to who the tournament’s victor would be. A flawless 35-foot bomb on the par-4 18th gave the former Penn State star a final-round 67, a 16-under 269 total, and the event’s $29,000 first-place prize.
The Pine Needles Classic was the third of 24 scheduled events on the 2012 eGolf Tour schedule, and was contested this week at both Pine Needles Resort in Southern Pines, NC and Seven Lakes Country Club in West End, NC.

NGA TOUR: Milton Martin Honda Classic
COURSE: Chattahoochee Golf Club, Gainesville, Ga.
CANADIANS: Marc-Etienne Bussieres 70. -2 T38 and Robbie Greenwell 70 75 +3 T101

Former Florida State standout Matt Savage shot a 5-under 66 in the second round of the NGA Tour’s Milton Martin Honda Classic on Friday to earn the clubhouse lead. Round 2 was suspended again on Saturday due to rain thunder and lightning and the event, reduced to 36 holes is to be completed at 8.30am this morning.

for a full scoreboard click http://ngahooters.tourgolfscores.com/gscode/public/leaderboards/player/apstyle.cfm?tournament_id=339

ASIAN TOUR: Cambodian Classic
COURSE: Angkor Golf Resort, Siem Reap, Cambodia
CANADIANS : Ron Harvey, Jr T57 71 71 71 76 +1., Lindsay Renolds T48 76 67 74 70 -1, Rick Gibson MC, Matt Johnston MC

American rookie David Lipsky produced a superb chip-in birdie to defeat a luckless Elmer Salvador of the Philippines in the first play-off hole and win the inaugural US$300,000 HANDA FALDO Cambodian Classic on Saturday.

The 23-year-old, who won the Asian Tour’s Qualifying School in January, enjoyed his maiden professional victory in front of six-time Major champion Nick Faldo

Starting the day seven shots off the lead, Lipsky closed with a stunning seven-under-par 65 for a 15-under-par 273 total. A gritty Salvador had a 10-foot birdie putt at the last hole in regulation play for the outright win but he missed for a 68.

final scoreboard click here  http://www.asiantour.com/livescoring.html





Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at www.isr1050.com

Nice to see Weirsy on TV, and playing well.

I have seen more of Mike Weir on TV yesterday and today than I have since his salad days in 2003, 04 and 05, and it took a trip to the Open de Andalucia Costa del Sol on the European tour to make it happen.

He has just completed round 2, 68,73 -3 T31, 5 shots off the lead currently at -8, but the tournament host, Miguel Jimenez is at -7 playing #13.

So far this is his best outing of the year, having missed the cut at Pebble, Mayakoba and the Honda, his lowest score in those events was 70. While he is ranked #1 on tour in GIR from 125yds and in, a look at his basic stats shows us the problem he is having off the tee.

Driving Distance	263.4	188th	Tot. Dist. - 2,634	Tot. Drvs. - 10
Driving Accuracy Percentage	47.83%	183rd	Fwys Hit - 33	Poss. Fwys - 69
Greens in Regulation Percentage	41.11%	188th	Greens Hit - 37	# Holes - 90
Strokes Gained - Putting	-.269	130th	-	-
Birdie Average	2.00	188th	# Birdies - 14	Tot. Rnds. - 7
Scoring Average	75.08	186th	Tot. Strks - 531	Tot. Adj. - 5.422-
Sand Save Percentage	56.25%	39th	# Saves - 9	# Bunkers - 16
Total Driving	1,998	187th

He still has the same half swing takeaway before he hits anything but his putts, and his wedge game and putting stance and stroke on display this week look just like the Weirsy of old. Today he was out in -1 playing the back nine first, but wayward drives cost him bogey 5's at 6 and 7, so +1 73 and he will be around to compete for the title this weekend, all a step in the right direction.

His driver must be driving even the most positive of guys nutsy. I remember standing on a balcony overlooking the driving range on a windy Sunday at our Canadian Open at the Abbey, watching him a few years ago before his problems, dressed in his Sunday black, all alone with Brennan, just striping drivers and 3 woods into the wind effortlessly.

Who was it that said, the toughest test of golf anywhere in the world is the one between your ears.. Did you know with his 2 wins on the European Tour, Weirsy has won 6,532,188 Euros over there since 1997. That my friends is $8,503,160 Canadian...

for live scoring click http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2012/tournamentid=2012012/leaderboard/index.html?showLeaderboard=Y

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at www.isr1050.com

RBC loses Jim Little to Shaw Media

Jim Little, the marketing executive at RBC who developed the company’s golf strategy, is leaving, according to an email circulated to staff. Little ran sponsorship and marketing for Bell Canada, including the Canadian Open, and then left the telecommunications company, joining RBC in 2007. He inked a deal for the Canadian Open later that year.


RBC’s chief human resources executive sent this out to staff today:

It is with regret that I announce that Jim Little, Chief Brand and Communications Officer, will be leaving RBC at the end ofApril to become the Chief Marketing Officer at Shaw Communications Inc.


Over the last five years Jim and his team, working closely with the marketing groups across the enterprise, have made a significant contribution to RBC’s brand relevance in Canada and establishing its brand presence internationally.


Through the introduction of Arbie, the deepening of our ties with the Olympic movement, the creation of the RBC Blue Water Project, the use of golf as a marketing and charitable platform and the expansion of our media relations and communications capabilities, Jim has helped establish strong foundations upon which we will continue to build our business.


Over the next month, Jim and I will be working closely to ensure a proper transition and to ensure that the Brand and Communications team continue to meet our business needs without interruption.


Jim has worked with many leaders across RBC and we will certainly miss his expertise and creativity. Please join me in thanking Jim for his many contributions to RBC and wishing him the very best in the next chapter of his career

Little later issued his own email..

Golf has never been in better shape in Canada and RBC is long on golf at both the professional and amateur levels…its been an honor to work with the folks at GOLF Canada and the PGA tour to help strengthen the game as we used golf to enhance the RBC brand both here and internationally


Jim has led RBC to become a big time player in golf at the top level with sponsorship at the Canadian Open and the Heritage good through 2017, with an opt out after 2012 in case he left or the bank changed it's policy, and several big name signings like Freddie Couples. Luke Donald and Ernie Els, and of course their huge sponsorship of the Canadian Olympic team with their mascot Arbie.

I don't expect RBC will mess wirh a good thing, Gord Nixon their CEO are in an enviable spot, the bank has come striding through the world wide recession and they are the clear leaders amongst Canada's big banks in the sporting community.


Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/

Taylor-Made now making hockey sticks..

With the Leafs heading for the golf course instead of the playoffs yet again this year, and the rest of us  anxiously waiting for the courses to open up for 2012, I saw this article from @MikeStachura in Golf Digest, and thought I'd post it here for you.

Taylor-Made is the company making all those RocketBallz white drivers that every second pro is using now, and while the head of the club gets all the attention, you know that it is the shaft that does all the work, so I assume that is where they will be concentrating their efforts with the new stick.
TaylorMade getting into hockey technology

It's been noted by more than one golf observer that hockey players, when given the opportunity, tend to have naturally powerful golf swings. That may be a propos of nothing, but the link between the two sports got a little more interesting recently when TaylorMade announced that it would be partnering with hockey equipment brand Reebok-CCM in developing new products.

First up is the new RBZ hockey stick, which is set to debut in June but won't be seen at retail until the fall. It's already being used by NHL rookies Gabriel Landeskog of the Colorado Avalanche and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Edmonton Oilers.

While details of the stick technology are not clear and both Reebok-CCM and TaylorMade are not saying much about what the stick does, the idea seems to be about increasing the potential for creating speed, presumably of the stick itself and in turn, the puck. The stick, including the blade, is all white, just like TaylorMade's current product line of drivers, including the RocketBallz and RocketBallz Tour, as well as the RocketBallz fairway wood and hybrid.

TaylorMade was the first major golf company in the U.S. to introduce lighter and longer drivers with 46-inch and longer clubs that weighed less than 280 grams, including 2011's Burner SuperFast 2.0, which featured a 48-gram shaft. The eight-way adjustable RocketBallz driver is actually heavier at just under 300 grams, but features an improved aerodynamic profile.

Even the players using the stick don't know much about it. Nugent-Hopkins told the Edmonton Journal, "They make it so you can't tell the difference," said Nugent-Hopkins, a CCM stick user since his junior hockey days. "They're good at that. I can't feel the difference, but it does have the white at the bottom, which is different from what I'm used to. I like it."

Whatever the new RBZ stick does, though, it seems like just another reason to dissuade your aspiring young hockey star from playing in goal.


Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/

Schedule is set for the 2012 CN Canadian Women's Tour

for details of the CN Women's Tour schedule click here
 http://www.cncanadianwomenstour.ca/innerpage.aspx?x=Vn%2bHsq1xnnrJuFzSW6rKaO1adT0Id0Br60hn%2fAAmKIsxFnf5fBTFQsAEzkNZx2Uh


Richmond, B.C. will be the launch pad for the 2012 CN Canadian Women’s Tour, Canada’s only professional golf tour for women. Richmond Country Club, which last played host to a Women's Tour event in 2008, will open the season May 14. The club has previously played host to several Golf Canada sanctioned events, including the 2006 CN Future Links Pacific Championship and the 2010 Canadian Junior Boys Championship.

Club de golf Beloeil in Quebec, the Tour’s second stop on June 11, is hosting a CN Canadian Women’s Tour event for the second consecutive season.

Legends of the Niagara in Niagara, Ont., site of the 2004 Canadian Women’s Open, will stage the Tour finale on June 25.

Winners of each of the three Tour events will receive an exemption into the CN Canadian Women's Open, to be played this year at Vancouver Golf and Country Club in August. As well, an additional two exemptions will be awarded based on the season-ending Order of Merit standings. Tournament winners will also have three special invitations to use on the Symetra Tour in 2012, the LPGA's developmental circuit.

Also, the top three players on the Order of Merit will each earn direct entry into stage two of the LPGA Q-School.

Jessica Shepley of Oakville, Ont., captured her second straight Jocelyne Bourassa Player of the Year award after topping the points list last year. Shepley went on to capture her first win on the LPGA Futures Tour in Concord, New Hampshire in 2011. Among the players who have used the CN Canadian Women's Tour as a launching pad to a future professional career are Lorie Kane, Alena Sharp, Isabelle Beisiegel, Stephanie Sherlock, Rebecca Lee-Bentham and Maude-Aimée LeBlanc - the latter two having earned their LPGA Tour playing cards last fall.

Other CN Canadian Women’s Tour graduates include world number one ranked Yani Tseng, American Solheim Cup player Ryan O’Toole, Sara Brown and Katy Harris.


Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/

Where they are playing this week..

While Rory, Lee and Martin are off this week, as are Tiger (mild achilles strain) and Phil, there is plenty to talk about with lots of Canadians in action around the world, including Mike Weir in Spain.

Here's where they all are this week with notes compiled by our fine Canadian golf writer Jeff Brooke who you can find in the Globe and Mail and at Golf Canada..


PGA TOUR: TRANSITIONS CHAMPIONSHIP
COURSE: Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club, Copperhead Course (7,340 yards, par 71).

CANADIANS: Graham DeLaet is playing in his third straight event and is coming off his first top-10 result of the season; Stephen Ames is playing his fourth straight event having missed the cut in the last two; David Hearn is back after taking last week off.

NOTES: Last week's winner Justin Rose, defending champion Gary Woodland, and Japan's Ryo Ishikawa are in the field along with second-ranked Luke Donald, Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, 2010 winner Jim Furyk and two-time champions Retief Goosen and K.J. Choi. ... England's Tom Lewis is making his PGA Tour debut. The 21-year-old English player won the European Tour's Portugal Masters last year.


EUROPEAN TOUR: ANDALUCIA OPEN

COURSE: Aloha Golf Club (6,881 yards, par 72).
CANADIANS: Mike Weir is making his 2012 European debut, taking advantage of Tour membership awarded to him for winning the 2003 Masters. He returns to a course that saw him win the 2000 WGC event.

NOTES: After a pair of World Golf Championship events, the European Tour returns with a lineup that includes Robert Rock, Colin Montgomerie and Miguel Angel Jimenez, who is the tournament host. ...Rock won the Abu Dhabi Championship in January.


LPGA TOUR: LPGA FOUNDERS CUP
COURSE: JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa, Wildfire Golf Club (6,613 yards, par 72).

CANADIANS: Lorie Kane, Maude-Aimee Leblanc, Rebecca Lee-Bentham, Alena Sharp are all in the field. Leblanc and Sharp are making their season debuts while Kane and Lee-Bentham are playing their first LPGA event since the Tour's Australasian swing. ... Stephanie Sherlock is the first alternate while Samantha Richdale is also listed as an alternate.

NOTES: Last year, the players competed for a mock purse and charity donations. While the charity donations are still there, this year's tournament has official prize money attached to it. ...Karrie Webb won the inaugural event last year for her 38th career win. ... Other winner's so far this season include Jessica Korda, Yani Tseng and Angela Stanford.


CHAMPIONS TOUR: TOSHIBA CLASSIC
COURSE: Newport Beach Country Club (6,584 yards, par 71).

CANADIANS: Jim Rutledge and Rod Spittle

NOTES: Last year, Nick Price matched the Champions Tour record with a career-best 11-under 60 in the first round, then shot 68-68 to beat Mark Wiebe by a stroke....Dick Stockton plays this as his only event of the year, he has never missed one, and is of course on of golf's most respected putting guru's these days.

eGOLF PROFESSIONAL TOUR: Pine Needles Classic
COURSE: Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club and Seven Lakes Country Club, North Carolina

CANADIANS: Cam Burke, Greg Doherty, Matt Hill, Brad Revell, Zach Schnurr,


NGA TOUR: Milton Martin Honda Classic
COURSE: Chattahoochee Golf Club, Gainesville, Ga.
CANADIANS: Marc-Etienne Bussieres and Robbie Greenwell


ASIAN TOUR: Cambodian Classic
COURSE: Angkor Golf Resort, Siem Reap, Cambodia
CANADIANS : Ron Harvey, Jr., Lindsay Renolds, Rick Gibson, Matt Johnston


Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/

Rose wins WGC at Doral as Bubba falters and Tiger withdraws

*****Latest world rankings click here
 http://www.officialworldgolfranking.com/rankings/default.sps?region=world&PageCount=1

First, let me say Justin Rose 70. -16 earned his win. 2 birdies and a bogey on the front, same on the back including the 5 at 18, nothing flashy, solid performance.

However once again Bubba Watson 74, -15, added to the lore that his lack of chutzpa, guts, brains, mental strength.. call it what you will, cost him his first WGC win.. and I'm not sure he really even cares.

For 3 days he just shredded the Blue Monster, made it look easy, he said his pink driver was going so far and so straight he was hitting all the fairways unheard of  for me, he would say, and my putting is coming around..he would add.

That was after Saturday.

On Sunday with all the marbles on the line, someone else called Bubba showed up. He did manage to birdie the first, hell I could it was playing so easy, then he rattled of 4 bogey's in 7 holes to go out in 39 and let the pack right back in. He drove it wildly, off cart paths, into ponds, into rough he hadn't seen all week. Watson didn't hit a fairway on the front nine, and only one tee shot managed to stay inside the bunkers that frame the fairways. He was in the water twice, once in a canal on the fifth hole that not many knew were there. He shot a 39 on the front nine, which included three putts outside 8 feet to limit the damage

He only made 7 bogey's in his first 3 rounds, made 5 on Sunday. At or near the lead in driving accuracy for 3 rounds, he plummeted so badly on Sunday he ended up T68.

Still he had a 15 footer for birdie on 18, after a dazzling recovery, a 4 iron low screamer from behind some palm trees, to go to a playoff with Justin, but I just knew he was not going to make it.. and he didn't.

Rory 67, holed out for eagle from the greenside bunker on 12 and was just a shot back, but bogey's at 14 and 18 cost him, even with the birdie on 16 to get within 1 shot again, but he ended up 3rd at -14.

So 1st and 3rd for 2 weeks work in Florida for the phenom..stll World #1..

By the way the wind never did get up to the steady 30km/h that was forecast, proving the weatherman in Miami is as inaccurate as most everywhere else I have been...

Also Sergio took a 12 on the par 4 3rd when he put 4 balls in the water.. 12... and still shot 76..T60

Now to Tiger who had to withdraw after his drive on 12, in obvious pain.. Here is the AP report.

Discomfort in his left Achilles caused Tiger Woods to withdraw from the final round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship after hitting his drive on the 12th hole Sunday.The golfer, who has been plagued by injuries in recent years, said he will have the injury evaluated early this week.

Woods, 36, appeared to be in some distress after hitting his second shot in the water at the par-5 10th hole at the TPC Blue Monster at Doral, where he was on his way to his worst finish in nine appearances at the venue.He appeared to favor his left leg, and then after hitting a 321-yard drive at No. 12, Woods summoned officials and was escorted from the property with his caddie, Joe LaCava, on a golf cart. Woods went to the parking lot and drove away with LaCava. Woods lives about 100 miles north of Doral outside of Jupiter.

He issued a statement about an hour after he left the course."I felt tightness in my left Achilles warming up this morning, and it continued to get progressively worse," said Woods, who made three bogeys and no birdies during the final round. "After hitting my tee shot at 12, I decided it was necessary to withdraw. In the past, I may have tried to continue to play, but this time, I decided to do what I thought was necessary."

Woods first suffered an Achilles injury at last year's Masters and tried to return a month later at the Players Championship, where he withdrew after just nine holes. He later said that he caused himself a setback by trying to return too soon.

Woods, who began the fourth round of the World Golf Championship event eight strokes behind leader Watson, missed four months of action last year after suffering what was then described as a Grade 1 mild medial collateral ligament strain to his left knee and a mild strain to his left Achilles tendon.

The initial injury occurred while "hitting a difficult and awkward second shot from the pine straw under the Eisenhower tree left of the fairway at No. 17 during the third round of the 2011 Masters," according to his website. Woods tied for fourth in that tournament.

"It looked like he made a swing on 12 that really hurt," said Webb Simpson (77), who played with Woods during the final round. "But he didn't say a whole lot. He just said he's got to be done. It looked like he was in some pain ... maybe his heel was bothering him, something with his foot. I don't think it's anything serious, but we didn't talk or anything so I'm not sure exactly what it was."

Paul Tesori, a veteran caddie who works for Simpson, said he noticed an issue with Woods walking as early as the fourth hole. He said that LaCava said the Achilles "puffed up."

Woods is scheduled to play a two-day exhibition called the Tavistock Cup, March 19-20 in Orlando, followed by the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which he has won six times. That tournament begins March 22. The Masters, which Woods has won four times, but not since 2005, begins April 5.

Although Woods said he is suffering from an Achilles injury, it is his left knee that has been most bothersome over the years. He has endured four operations on the knee, including reconstructive surgery on a damaged ACL following his 2008 U.S. Open victory. (The Achilles injury that Woods said he suffered in 2008-09 was his right, not his left, as last year's was reported to be.)That kept him from playing the rest of the 2008 season, but he returned in 2009 to win six times on the PGA Tour and another event in Australia

final scoreboard click http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/leaderboards/current/r473/index.html


PUERTO RICO OPEN
I was rooting for Ryo Ishikawa and Graham Delaet here, GD shot 71, -10 T9 and lost to American, George McNeil.

Ishikawa, on the anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that left his homeland in ruins, closed with a 68, -15 and had a one-shot lead after making birdie on 3 of his last 4 holes. McNeill 69, -16 caught him with a birdie on the 16th, took the lead with a birdie on the 17th and added another birdie on the par-5 18th for his 2nd PGA tour win.

Ryo has now earned $582,471 on the PGA TOUR this season, surpassing the $411,943 -- No. 150 on the 2011 money list -- needed for special temporary membership. He has 60 days to join the tour as a special temporary member after becoming eligible and then he would be eligible for unlimited sponsor exemptions this season.

final scoreboard..http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r483/



Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/
(with notes from pgatour.com)

Gary Player was right..

round 4 tee times..http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/tournaments/r473/tee-times.html
live scoreboard click..http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/leaderboards/current/r473/index.html

First things first. The weather forecast has isolated showers with that wind from the E at 30km/h, which is like it was on Thursday when only 12 guys broke par. The first tee time today is 8.40am with the leaders off at 2.40pm, when the wind is still listed at 30km/h.

A few years ago in an interview for our Fairways golf show, Gary Player who was lauding his latest versions of his Black Knight clubs, told me that one day soon, pros would be hitting their drives 400 yards rendering many of the Tour's courses obsolete if something wasn't done to restrict the flight of the golf ball. Well he wasn't far off.

Yesterday in calm conditions, Bubba Watson (68) -17 who leads this WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral by 3 shots, hit his first 3 drives of the day nearly 350 yards in his eagle, birdie start. As I said earlier the 1997 Ray Floyd re-design which included positioning bunkers at 270 yards to challenge the pro's drives is now outgrown as these guys carry the ball 300-310 yards.

Bubba is not only flying the fairway bunkers, but also the doglegs and the water, designed originally to make this Blue Monster course a very daunting challenge. The course played like a par 68 yesterday even though holes like 18 still offer a stern test. On Thursday in the wind it played to 73.7.

Rory was at 9 under on his round standing on the 13th tee but played the last 6 in +2, settling for 65 and -9 total, much like Tiger who started with 3 straight birdies, but also stalled coming in for 68 -9, both 8 shots back of Bubba.

However if today is like Thursday, the wind will make any lead anything but a sure thing, Bubba shot -2 70 on Thursday, Adam Scott who putted himself out of contention for the lead yesterday shot 66 in the wind of round 1, Schwartzel 68, Dufner 66, so a lot can change today.

Keegan Bradley 66 -14 will be paired with Bubba today at 2.40, with Justin Rose 69 -14 playing with  Peter Hanson 69 -12 in the penultimate group.  Tiger 68 -9 is off at 2.00pm with Webb Simpson 66 -9, Donald 69 -9 and Charl Schwartzel 70 -9 are off at 1.50, and Rory 65 -9 is off with Johnson Wagner 67 -10 at 2.10.

If any of these guys can post a score, and the wind makes the course the Blue Monster again it will be a heck of an afternoon in Miami..


Puerto Rico Open... I am keeping an eye on Graham Delaet who starts today 8th at -9, 4 shots off the lead of -13 held by George McNeil

here is a link to live scoring . http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r483/


Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/

Morning rain, less wind, big hitting Bubba leads low scoring at Doral..

The wind is down by 10mph and is more from the SSE as opposed to the E yesterday, and as a result scoring is much lower  nearly halfway through round 2 on the Blue Monster at Doral.

Bubba Watson started on 10 and went out in 31and he is at -8, Justin Rose though is -6 through 10 to lead at -9.

Rory started eagle, birdie playing off the 1st to get to -2, Martin Kaymer is -5 through 8 holes playing off 10, -4 total so far.

The drive at 18 is much easier today, only 30 pars yesterday, and the most of the guys are getting home with mid irons. Yesterday nobody made it past 270 yards with their drive, Tiger has just smoked one 310.  He is -2 today playing off 10, T23 right now.

GMac is -5 through 5 today -2 total..

ROUND 2 WRAP****

What a difference a day makes. The Blue Monster played nearly 3 shots less difficult, 18 lost most of her teeth, and the scoreboard is littered with 64's 65's and at the top of the class is Bubba Watson with a -10 62 -12 total. He swapped the lead all day with Justin Rose who is second  -8 64 -11, with Adam Scott 68, now at -10 in third.

The average score was 69.9, close to three strokes easier than the opening round. There were 12 scores in the 60s on Thursday, and 31 of them Friday. Watson and Rose put on an amazing show of birdies, making 17 between them.

This course obviously favours the big bombers and this week Bubba is the biggest. He leads the tournament in driving distance with a 323.5 average, which includes two drives of 373 yards, downwind, of course at No. 1 on Thursday and at No. 2 on Friday.

Tiger explains that the game has outgrown the redo that Ray Floyd gave it in 1997. "When Raymond did the redo on the bunkers, at the time, 280 was a carry," said Woods,"Now, you know, most of the golf courses we play, it's 310 to 320. If we get normal wind, or no wind at all, these bunkers really are not in play."So the longer hitters, it's just drive it down there and you've got a wedge in your hands"

Bubba playing with a pink driver (charity) is one of those guys in sport who is worth the price of admission. Barry Sanders, Mohammed Ali, Gretzky, Lemieux, George Best, Arnold Palmer, Tiger were all those kinds of guys, liable to do something jaw dropping special. Bubba with the Blue Monster in a less severe wind, with soft greens and fairways just shredded it with an array of shots that was unbelievable.

On the par 5 8th, he drove the ball dead into the wind 307 yards dead straight, nobody else in the field was within 20 yards, then he stood on a 3 iron from 225 that was never more than 20 feet off the ground, a shot he described as dead straight, over the water to 10 feet, made the putt for eagle.. special..

Lot's of guys made their moves, Kaymer 64 now at -7, Tiger who didn't get all he could have out of his round, 67 now -5, Luke was solid if unspectacular 68, now -6, Rory started eagle, birdie, said he couldn't get the speed of the greens right 69, now -2, Thomas Bjorn whom I tipped yesterday had another steady 68, still without a bogey, now -8. Mickelson 71 is at -1

All in all there are 19 guys going down to Tiger at -5 who are within 7 shots of Bubba going into the weekend, and that doesn't include Rory or Lee Westwood who recovered with a 67 of his own on Friday to stand at -1

The weather for Saturday has the wind at 20kph from the east by this afternoon, which is the tough wind, Friday it swung to the SSE which made 18 easier. It is dead calm in Miami at 6am this morning, all being said it looks like another day to go low.

Notable pairings for Saturday, Rory and GMac, Tiger and Stricker, Bubba and Rose again, Scott and Peter Hanson who shot 65 and is quietly at -9, my guy Bjorn and Bradley both at -8. It will be another fun day at Doral and please note the tee times are moved up from 11am to begin at 745am.

for live scoring click here....http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/leaderboards/current/r473/
round 3 tee times click.. http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/tournaments/r473/tee-times.html


Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/
(with notes from pgatour.com)

The Blue Monster plays tough at windy Doral...live scoreboards Doral and Puerto Rico

The east, southeast wind at Doral has been blowing through the Miami area all week and is scheduled to continue throughout the weekend. It dominated the story from round 1 at Doral where Adam Scott and Jason Dufner managed it better than the rest of the field to lead at -6 66, 2 shots ahead of Charl Schwartzel and Thomas Bjorn, who was bogey-free at -4 68. Watch out for Thomas this weekend, he is an excellent wind player.

The first hole, downwind par 5 529yds is merely a 350 yd drive and a short iron for these guys, making par was giving the field at least a stroke. Flip the coin to the tough 18th a 467yd par 4 with the huge lake bordering the left, palm trees and heavy rough to the right and the wind blowing at 30kph across the hole, there were more bogeys, double-bogeys and triple-bogeys (a total of 42) than there were pars (30); the stroke average of 4.743 was higher than that for the par-5 first hole (4.743). Only a dozen players managed to break 70, and a dozen more broke par. The average score was 72.7

Charl Schwartzel who hit one of the best drives on 18 that I saw all day played it in driver, 5 iron for a par 4 to stand at -4 68...."That's as tough a wind as you can play it in," he said. "If you bail, you are probably going to make bogey anyway. It's one of those where you have to just take it on. I ran off there with a 4. I'm very happy"

Luke Donald who I watched hit his drive safely to the corner of the dogleg left, but well back picks up the story ""Well, I hit 3-wood into 18, par 4, and I hit 7-iron into the first, which is a par 5. So, obviously, when you get this sort of east, southeast wind, it just plays very tough." He was at -4 coming into the 18th, but hit that 3 wood into the pond , made double to end up -2 70, which was the best of the big 3 pairing, Lee Westwood made bogey on his first 3 holes (9-11), fought back but ended up at +4 76, while our new #1, Rory McIlroy said he felt flat, but still got around in +1 73 with you guessed it, birdie at the first, bogey at the last .

Tiger, who has won this event 6 times, started with an eagle on  the first, also made bogey on 18, like all the guys had trouble pulling the right club and also  three-putted twice, but battled around in his very smart all black with white belt shoes and hat outfit, to par 72, 6 shots back, and Phil Mickelson is also at E 72 with a double, 2 bogey's and 4 birdies, and a par on 18 !!..

What a round, or should I say finish for Sergio. He was one shot out of the lead at -5 through 12 holes. He didn't hit a fairway the rest of the way, nor did he make so much as a par. He followed five straight bogeys by hitting two shots into the water on the 18th and taking triple bogey. Over that six-hole stretch, Garcia went from being -5 to +3,75

Steve Stricker was at -6 at one point until he made bogey at 13, 17 and 18 summed it up..The course is playable," he said. "You can see it in the scores. It's still playable, whether we have this wind or not, so it's manageable out there, and you just have to play hard and play well."

live scoring at WGC Cadillac Championship http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/leaderboards/current/r473/index.html


The pairings remain the same for Friday, except they flip nines, so the guys who started on 10 Thursday, start on 1 Friday with that downwind par 5.

round 2 tee times http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/tournaments/r473/tee-times.html



While all eyes are on the WGC at Doral, the rest of the guys are at the Puerto Rico Open including 3 Canucks, Graham Delaet T8 -3 69, Stephen Ames T83 +2 74 and Matt McQuillan T127, +7 79.

The leaders at -6 66 are Matt Jones of Australia and George McNeil from the States..
live scoring at the Puerto Rico Open click  http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r483/



Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/
(with notes from pgatour.com)

Weir is off to the Costa del Sol for his European Tour debut.

Mike Weir is set to make his 2012 European Tour debut next week at the Open de Andalucia Costa del Sol event in Span.


The Masters champion will be one of five major winners in the field at the Aloha Golf Club which includes European Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal, Open champion Paul Lawrie and U.S. Open champions Michael Campbell and Rich Beem.

The tournament will mark a return to Spain for Weir, who captured the 2000 WGC-American Express Championship when it was played at Valderrama. The Brights Grove, Ont., golfer held off Lee Westwood by two strokes to triumph over a world class field that included Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods and Nick Price.

"I'm looking forward to returning to Spain next week," said Weir. "I have very fond memories of winning a World Golf Championship event early in my career, and it will be special to play there again. I have always enjoyed the golf courses in Spain and have heard that Aloha is an outstanding golf course. It will be a fun week."

Weir is taking advantage of a 12-year exemption on the European Tour given to him for his 2003 Masters victory. He is using European Tour events to fill out his 2012 golf schedule as he attempts to regain his full PGA Tour status after almost two injury filled seasons.

After a difficult 2011 season, Weir made the decision last fall to undergo elbow surgery after withdrawing from the second round of the RBC Canadian Open in Vancouver. He returned just over six months later in January of this year at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am but has missed the cut in all three PGA events he's played in.

Light hearted look at round 1 tee times WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral

tee times for WGC Cadillac at Doral  http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/tournaments/r473/tee-times.html

I count 74 players in the field and here are the pairings that I will be most interested in and why.. They are off split tees and because it's a limited WGC field the first tee time scheduled is very comfy 11am.

Off #1

12:10 pm Rose, Justin Watson, Bubba Wilson, Mark .. Mark will be hitting into the green first all day...

12:20 pm Day, Jason Johnson, Dustin Schwartzel, Charl .. 3 great young guns, should be a birdie fest, but who'll have the beard this week ??..

12:30 pm Kaymer, Martin Stricker, Steve Simpson, Webb ..  3 of the most boring guys, but they produce such great golf, would love to slip a mickey of vodka into their water bottles ..

12:40 pm Woods, Tiger Watney, Nick Garcia, Sergio .. in the past at least Sergio and Tiger had chicks to talk about...

Off #10

11:10 am Quiros, Alvaro Stanley, Kyle Woodland, Gary .. even the Blue Monster isn't big enough for these nukes..

11:20 am Mahan, Hunter Scott, Adam Mickelson, Phil ..Mick and Hunter are hot... Mick player of the month..if Hunter wins again, Mick and Adam switch to the Nome..

11:50 am McIlroy, Rory Donald, Luke Westwood, Lee ... "1,2,3 . that's how elementary it's gonna be ".. Nice touch guys.

12:00 pm Fowler, Rickie Poulter, Ian Goosen, Retief ..    Poully needs his best threads to keep up with el PUMA..


Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/

PGA of Canada releases it's 2012 Schedule

ACTON, ONT.]—The PGA of Canada released its 2012 tournament schedule today, featuring a number of impressive venues for its National Championships.


The five National Championships will be played at stellar courses including Country Hills Golf Club, Calgary; Emerald Hills Golf Club, Stouffville, Ont.; Legends on the Niagara, Niagara Falls, Ont.; Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge Golf Club, Jasper, Alta.; and PGA Golf Club, Port St. Lucie, Fla.

"We've got five great venues for our National Championships this year,” said PGA of Canada's Managing Director of Championships & Events, Adam LeBrun. "Each course offers a unique challenge to competitors and I believe we'll have five great champions come the end of the year.”

The first of five National Championships—the PGA Championship of Canada sponsored by Mr. Lube and presented by TaylorMade-adidas Golf—takes place June 18-22 on the Talons Course at Country Hills Golf Club in Calgary. Once again, the tournament will feature a 64-player field and a match play format.

The Mr. Lube PGA Seniors' Championship of Canada presented by Cleveland Golf/Srixon sees the PGA of Canada members 50-years and older take to Emerald Hills Golf Club July 17-20.

Legends on the Niagara's Ussher's Creek course plays host to the PGA Women's Championship of Canada presented by Nike Golf, Aug. 28-30.

The famed Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge Golf Club, which ranked No. 4 on SCOREGolf's 2010 Top 100 Golf Courses in Canada list, welcomes the PGA Assistants' Championship of Canada presented by Titleist & FootJoy, Sept. 17-20.

Once again the Titleist & FootJoy PGA Club Professional Championship of Canada returns to the Wanamaker Course at PGA Golf Club, Nov. 18-21.

For more information, visit the Championships page on the PGA of Canada's website.

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/

A look at today's World Rankings provides a rosy view of pro golf's future.

click here for the latest world golf rankings.. http://www.officialworldgolfranking.com/rankings/default.sps?region=world

In the Monday morning aftermath of Rory's coronation as the world's #1, and a vintage Sunday charge by Tiger Woods 62 and lost in the shuffle Lee Westwood's 63, the future of the men's pro game is very bright indeed.

Somehow Luke Donald who was the man with his incredible 2011, didn't stir the imagination of fans in North America, and while he was treated with the utmost respect from the media, it was more like " what a great year Luke Donald is having, and congrats on the birth of his new daughter... now to Tiger.." 

Rory at 22 is much more appealing to the American public and media, winning the US Open as he did, blowing the Masters as he did, his breathtaking swing, prodigious length, world #2 beautiful tennis star girlfriend...We are all at the start of the next era in golf, but it won't ever be as dominant as it was in Tiger's prime.. but that makes it more exciting.

Here's my look from the World rankings, at some of the guys we are going to enjoy competing against Rory for years to come..

#2 Luke Donald... will never have another season like 2011, but he has shown us all what a worthy top 5 player he is.

#3 Lee Westwood.. at 37, fit as a fiddle, full of confidence playing anywhere in the world, he has nothing left to prove except that he can win a major, and that starts again in 4 weeks at Augusta.

#7 Jason Day.. at 22 will have many a clash with Rory for years to come. He has all the tools, another young gun..

#8 Dustin Johnson.. is just ridiculously talented, and if he ever gets really determined there will be weeks when he is unbeatable. Only 27.

#9  Charl Schwartzel .. is already a Masters champion, and is the real deal also only 27, this South African will compete with Rory around the world for years.

#12  Phil Mickelson may be 42 now but is far from done as he just displayed at Pebble and Riviera, it will be intriguing to see the old guard taking on Rory and the kids for a few more years

# 16 Tiger Woods... enough said... WGC at Doral this week... Bay Hill in a 3 weeks if Tiger plays, Rory has said he will,.. then Augusta.. and that's just the start..

#36 Rickie Fowler... once his game starts to match his clothes look out... He's exciting, he's damn good and he is another 24 year old.. They will battle at the Ryder Cup for years..

# 42 Bae Sang moon.. 22 year old Korean, along with #39 KT Kim and others to come that will take the torch from #21 KJ Choi as SKorea, China, Japan ( #53 Ryo Ishikawa ), Malaysia, Thailand all continue to become big time players on the world stage during the upcoming Rory dynasty...

#62  Matteo Manessero.. this Italian star is only 19, and is truly special, mature beyond his years as Mike Weir said after a practice round with him as a 16 year old at the Masters

Other young American stars like Harris English 22, Patrick Cantley 20, are just starting their pro stories, Tom Lewis 21 is already the European tour Rookie of the Year and I could go on and on.

Rory's win yesterday and his brand new world #1 status along with Tiger's resurgence have certainly given this 2012 season a real shot in the arm, but when you look at the bigger picture, the future... it is very rosy indeed


Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/

Tiger's returns just in time to make the McIlroy dynasty very interesting.

Tiger Woods took a huge step forward this Sunday, in his recovery with a final round -8 62 to post a -10 clubhouse lead, it was the Tiger of old..the type of round we have come to expect from Tiger..the type of round that made players crumble under his onslaught in the past, especially with that birdie, eagle finish, it was vintage

However the Tiger of this era Rory McIlroy wasn't fazed, putting and playing way beyond his 22 years, he made clutch par putt after par putt, getting out of trouble at 15 and 17 with deft touch, posted -1 69  to get to -12 to win the Honda Classic by 2 shots and begin his dynasty as the best player in the world, he is now #1, a dynasty that is well supported by young guns like Keegan Bradley, Rickie Fowler, Matteo Manessero, Tom Lewis, Jason Day, etal and 30 somethings like Sergio, Adam Scott, Luke Donald and yes Tiger Woods.
The media will continue to flock to Tiger until he retires, but his era as the undisputed #1 player in the world is over, yes he will win again, probably even a major, but Rory is now the man amongst the players and any rational thinking scribe or broadcaster.

He was 62 under par in his last 6 events (not counting his 2nd last week at the MatchPlay where scores are assumed) and only had 1 outside the T10. Add another -12 to make him -74 in his last 6 strokeplay events..

He will be the odds on favourite at next week's WGC Cadillac Open at Doral, then at Augusta.. the dynasty has begun.. Luke Donald, off this week, and Lee Westwood -7 63 today, along with Martin Kaymer and GMac, not to mention Dustin Johnson, Webb Simpson, and oldies like Tiger and Phil Mickelson  will keep him honest, but Rory drives it as long, has a great long iron game, superb short game, lags well and is now making most from 10' and in.

Golf is in good hands, Rory's, and now it apppears Tiger is back to make things really interesting, and I am happy to be around to watch it all.
Let the Rory dynasty begin, it will be a helluva ride, and this is a Ryder Cup year !! Yikes...

final scoreboard click http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r010/

Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/

Tee times moved up for round 4 with Rory in the lead.

****WEATHER UPDATE.. Play has resumed at 11.30am after a 2 hour delay due to strong winds and rain..


PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Due to bad weather expected today, tee times have been moved up for the final round with players going off both tees in groups of three between 8:30 and 10:30 a.m.

According to the forecast, thunderstorms are possible beginning at noon, with a 40 percent chance of rain. By 1 p.m., the chance of rain increases to 50 percent. Winds as high as 25 mph are also expected.

tee times click http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/r010/tee-times.html
live scoring click http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboards/current/r010/


McIlroy, still only 22, could move to No. 4 in the FedExCup standings and become the second-youngest player behind Woods to reach No. 1 in the world this week. He would have to win The Honda Classic to make the move and replace Luke Donald atop the ranking. He shot a brilliant -4 66 in windy conditions at this tough PGA National course to move to -11 199, for a two-shot lead over 22-year-old rookie Harris English (66) and 43-year-old Tom Gillis (69). Seven players were within five shots of the lead, a group that includes PGA champion Keegan Bradley and Masters champion Charl Schwartzel.

In Rory's last 6 events he has been 4th WGC in China, 1st in Hong Kong, 11th at Dubai Worlds, 2nd in Abu Dhabi, 5th in Dubai and 2nd last week at WGC Matchplay, without a round over par in the stroke play events.

He is poised to win today as he prepares his game for the Masters which you remember he was leading after 3 rounds last year. This is the beginning of a dynasty folks, with a great young supporting cast from all over the world..

Tiger Woods could only manage -1 69 and is T18, 9 shots behind at -2 208. " I was close to putting a low one up there today," Woods said. "I felt like it could be had, I could make a run and post 5-under par for the day or something like that and get myself within reach. Right now, Rory is playing some great golf."


Harris English, who won on the Nationwide Tour last year while still an amateur, made a 10-foot par save on the 17th and finished with a 66. He will be in the final group, a rare occasion when McIlroy will be playing with someone his own age with a tournament on the line.

All four Canucks missed the cut as reported here yesterday.


Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles and at http://www.isr1050.com/
(with notes fom pgatour.com)